ABINGDON, U.K.—International specialty pharmaceutical company Midatech Pharma has shared news of the completion of its preclinical program for MTD119 in advanced liver cancer. Potent antitumor activity was seen in vivo in all efficacy models. Improved overall survival was seen, and the peak reduction in tumor growth in the wake of MTD119 administration was more than sixfold (mean reduction more than threefold) compared to sorafenib, the current standard of care. Tolerability was also improved. Midatech will now advance MTD119 into investigational new drug application-enabling studies, with an expected completion date in H1 2018 and a forecasted IND submission for first-in-human studies to begin in 2018.

Dr. Jim Phillips, CEO of Midatech, commented in part that: “This is an important milestone in moving our MTD119 compound towards the clinic, as it represents Midatech’s first anticancer product using the company’s core proprietary GNP technology platform.”